The sudden disappearance of the Return and Earn reverse vending machine in the car park of North Orange shopping centre on Monday night was worthy of a Las Vegas magician, and surprised locals who drove past on the Northern Distributor on Tuesday morning.
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All that was left in its place was a mess of rubbish.
As it happens, the machine had not been removed but merely relocated.
"The Orange community are avid users of Return and Earn, having returned more than 28 million containers for recycling through its two local RVMs since the scheme launched," said a spokesperson for the Environmental Protection Authority.
"The North Orange reverse vending machine was temporarily closed the evening of Sunday 18 October to enable its relocation to the other side of the car park for improved access to the site."
The machine is scheduled to reopen at 7am on Wednesday.
As for the rubbish left behind, the EPA said: "The network operator will dispose of all waste from the prior location and continue twice-daily cleans of the RVM and any rubbish alongside the new location.
"Return and Earn encourages anyone using a return point to recycle responsibly and to take all their rubbish with them, including any cardboard boxes and ineligible containers, to recycle at home via their kerbside collection service."
More than 4.3 billion drink containers have been returned through the Return and Earn network since the scheme commenced in December 2017, with the latest research finding 75 percent of NSW adults have participated in the scheme.
For more information about Return and Earn, see www.returnandearn.org.au
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